Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the time taken to route a patient from pick-up point to the nearest accident and emergency department is taken into account in determining the recipient location.

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact is on ambulance travel times of congestion, accidents, road works or other factors on the A720 Edinburgh city bypass.

Malcolm Chisholm: The key factor in the overall outcome of an emergency ambulance service intervention is the time taken for the crew to reach a patient and to begin providing treatment – the response time. The Ambulance Service reviews constantly the patterns of emergency demand in relation to the location of vehicles and crews and seeks to optimise location to reduce response times. Clearly, factors such as road congestion at particular times of day, road works etc can impact on response times. It is not possible to quantify this impact. In an emergency situation an ambulance which is caught up in congestion can use visual and audible warning systems to make progress. Predictable heavy congestion or known delays such as road works can be factored into route planning by ambulance crews, on the advice of ambulance control. In exceptional circumstances ambulance control may advise crews to divert to an alternative hospital or to the nearest one.

Cancer

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many lung cancer patients in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area have survived (i) 12 months and (ii) five years beyond diagnosis in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Relative survival rates which adjust for the underlying death rate in the population are those commonly used for comparison purposes with other countries.

  Table 1 shows relative survival rates five years after diagnosis for 1996, 1997 and 1998. 1998 is the most recent year for which five year follow up of patients is complete.

  Table 1: Five Year Relative Survival for Scotland

  

Year of Diagnosis
5-year Relative Survival
(%)



1996
6.6


1997
6.5


1998
7.8



  Tables 2(i) and (ii) show survival of lung cancer patients in Scotland by Health Board in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 for survival and one year after diagnosis and 1996, 1997 and 1998 for survival at five years after diagnosis. The tables show survival rates based on death from all diseases, i.e. unadjusted for the underlying death rate.

  Table 2: Percentage Survival of Patients with Lung Cancer Resident In Scotland:

  (i) At One Year Following Diagnosis for Patients Diagnosed In 1999-2001

  

Year of diagnosis


 
2001
2000
1999


NHS Board Area of Residence
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)


Argyll and Clyde
26.5
16.3
26.7


Ayrshire and Arran
19.1
21.5
21.5


Borders
34.2
36.4
26.7


Dumfries and Galloway
9.9
25.7
27.5


Fife
23.5
18.4
20.2


Forth Valley
22.3
28.0
31.6


Grampian
24.8
30.9
27.6


Greater Glasgow
26.0
24.9
25.6


Highland
21.9
22.5
23.0


Lanarkshire
23.2
24.5
20.8


Lothian
28.3
26.5
25.7


Tayside
27.2
28.5
31.7


Scotland
24.8
24.9
25.5



  (ii) At Five Years Following Diagnosis for Patients Diagnosed In 1996-1998

  

Year of diagnosis


 
1998
1997
1996


NHS Board Area of Residence
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)


Argyll and Clyde
7.8
6.9
4.9


Ayrshire and Arran
5.8
5.0
3.9


Borders
5.6
3.1
6.3


Dumfries and Galloway
8.7
3.9
6.3


Fife
5.7
3.9
2.8


Forth Valley
6.9
2.9
5.4


Grampian
5.8
6.3
6.0


Greater Glasgow
5.3
5.7
5.8


Highland
8.2
8.7
7.6


Lanarkshire
6.0
6.0
6.2


Lothian
9.0
4.8
7.1


Tayside
6.2
5.9
6.2


Scotland
6.6
5.5
5.7



  Data source: Scottish Cancer Registration database, ISD, Scotland, July 2004.

  Notes:

  1. Data for the island NHS Boards (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) are not shown separately due to the small numbers involved. They are, however, included in the Scotland totals.

  2. Data in Table 2 (i) and (ii) are unadjusted for factors such as age and deprivation category.

Cancer

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many breast cancer patients in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area have survived (i) 12 months and (ii) five years beyond diagnosis in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Relative survival rates, which adjust for the underlying death rate in the population, are those commonly used for comparison purposes with other countries.

  Table 1 shows relative survival rates five years after diagnosis for 1996, 1997 and 1998. 1998 is the most recent year for which five year follow up of patients is complete.

  Table 1: Five Year Relative Survival For Scotland

  

Year of Diagnosis
5-year Relative Survival
(%)



1996
76.2


1997
77.7


1998
80.1



  Tables 2(i) and (ii) show survival of breast cancer patients in Scotland by Health Board in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 for survival at one year after diagnosis and 1996, 1997 and 1998 for survival at five years after diagnosis. The tables show unadjusted survival rates based on death from all diseases, i.e. unadjusted for the underlying death rate.

  Table 2: Percentage Survival of Patients with Breast Cancer Resident in Scotland

  (i) At One Year Following Diagnosis for Patients Diagnosed in 1999-2001

  

Year of diagnosis


 
2001
2000
1999


NHS Board Area of Residence
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)


Argyll and Clyde
92.3
91.6
90.3


Ayrshire and Arran
91.9
92.2
89.7


Borders
83.1
86.9
98.4


Dumfries and Galloway
97.2
93.0
90.6


Fife
88.8
95.6
83.3


Forth Valley
93.4
88.2
91.9


Grampian
92.7
92.2
94.3


Greater Glasgow
91.7
93.7
91.2


Highland
89.0
92.8
94.7


Lanarkshire
91.9
94.7
89.3


Lothian
91.6
91.7
92.6


Tayside
94.7
91.6
91.4


Scotland
91.7
92.7
91.2



  (ii) At Five Years Following Diagnosis for Patients Diagnosed in 1996-1998

  

Year of diagnosis


 
1998
1997
1996


NHS Board Area of Residence
Survival
(%)
Survival
(%)
Survival 
(%)


Argyll and Clyde
72.8 
65.7
67.2


Ayrshire and Arran
67.5
73.7
65.6


Borders
70.0
62.1
67.7


Dumfries and Galloway
74.7
63.9
65.6


Fife
65.9
75.6
64.3


Forth Valley
69.4
61.3
70.8


Grampian
70.3
67.4
68.0


Greater Glasgow
65.2
68.1
63.1


Highland
71.2
64.7
62.1


Lanarkshire
70.9
62.1
66.7


Lothian
72.4
64.4
64.9


Tayside
64.7
67.0
66.9


Scotland
69.2
66.8
65.6



  Data source: Scottish Cancer Registration database (SOCRATES), ISD, Scotland, July 2004.

  Notes:

  1. Data for the island NHS Boards (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) are not shown separately due to the small numbers involved. They are, however, included in the Scotland totals.

  2. Data in Table 2 (i) and (ii) are unadjusted for factors such as age and deprivation category.

Central Heating Programme

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9006 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 29 June 2004, whether it will consider introducing funding for the provision of free central heating to disabled owner-occupiers under 60.

Mary Mulligan: We are considering the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 topic report on fuel poverty. Future spending plans will be announced later in the year.

Drug and Alcohol Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what detoxification and rehabilitation facilities are available for (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction in each NHS board area for children under 16.

Hugh Henry: Information from Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAAT) for 2002-03 indicates that there are 45 specialist addiction services which are either dedicated solely to under 16s, or which have dedicated workers of facilities for under 16s. Thirty six of these services cover both drugs and alcohol services, while 9 are dedicated to drugs only. A breakdown by NHS board is provided in the following table:-

  

NHS Board
Total no. services
No for Drugs & Alcohol
No for drugs only


Argyll and Clyde
6
4
2


Ayrshire and Arran
3
0
3


Borders
1
1
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
-
-


Fife
3
2
1


Forth Valley
2
2
0


Grampian
2
1
1


Greater Glasgow
11
11
0


Highland
10
9
1


Lanarkshire
1
1
0


Lothian
4
3
1


Orkney
0
-
-


Shetland
0
-
-


Tayside
2
2
0


Western Isles
0
-
-


Total
45
36
9



  These services provide a range of interventions, including counselling, advice and information, education and training, and aftercare. DAAT returns indicate that 8 services provide detoxification. In addition to the services referred to above, under 16s access mainstream drugs services for treatment, and they can receive assistance through generic health and social services.

Drug and Alcohol Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children under 16 received residential treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Hugh Henry: In the last five years, there have been no reports of patients under 16 attending the residential services which contribute to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

Environment

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many community recycling and waste management groups there are.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally.

  The Executive provides funding to the Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) to provide support to community waste sector organisations. To date CRNS has recruited over 120 members.

Environment

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2979 by Ross Finnie on 1 July 2004, how many community recycling and waste management groups have applied for funds from the Temporary Fund and, of these, how many have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful.

Ross Finnie: 35 organisations applied to the Strategic Waste Fund: Community Sector (temporary support) scheme. 26 of these were successful. The remaining nine did not meet eligibility criteria and were therefore unsuccessful.

Environment

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2979 by Ross Finnie on 1 July 2004, how information about the Temporary Fund is disseminated.

Ross Finnie: Information about the Temporary Fund was disseminated by Scottish Executive News Releases (8/1/04 and 14/5/04), by ENTRUST (administrators of the scheme) and by the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.

  ENTRUST contacted all Environmental Bodies in Scotland which were previously in receipt of landfill tax credits for sustainable waste management projects to inform them of the Temporary Fund. Application forms were sent directly to these bodies as well as being available on the ENTRUST website www.entrust.org.uk.

Environment

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2979 by Ross Finnie on 1 July 2004, whether community recycling and waste management groups that have been excluded from local authority Strategic Waste Fund areas will be given priority for direct funding from the Strategic Waste Fund.

Ross Finnie: Community waste sector organisations can apply for support from the new Strategic Waste Fund : Community Sector 2004-05, 2005-06. We are currently seeking a body to manage this £5 million funding scheme on our behalf and expect applications to be invited later this year. Each application will be considered on its merits.

Equine Industry

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people work in the equine industry.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

  Industries are classified according to the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 1992, produced by the Office for National Statistics. There is no specific category for the equine industry using these classifications.

Hospitals

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been raised through public donations and fundraising for (a) Dumbarton Joint Hospital and (b) Helensburgh Victoria Infirmary in the last 10 years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure minimum quality standards of temporary accommodation, given the increase of 56% in the number of people in such accommodation between September 2001 and September 2003.

Ms Margaret Curran: Section 9 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 allows for the making of an order to specify temporary accommodation which is unsuitable for the purposes of fulfilling certain homelessness duties. We are currently assessing the responses to a consultation exercise carried out in the Spring, with a view to laying an order before Parliament later this year.

  All newly created temporary accommodation must meet the relevant requirements of the building standards regulations. We have also announced the Scottish Housing Quality Standard with a target date of 2015 for local authorities and Registered Social Landlords to achieve that standard across all their housing stock. Plans to introduce registration and accreditation of private landlords will also raise standards in that sector.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, for each clinical trial of non-pharmaceutical substances involving human volunteers approved or reviewed by the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research at Inveresk, what substance was involved, how many volunteers participated and what the trial entailed.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee is a private committee. The information requested is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether issues of commercial confidentiality prevent the disclosure to healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories of full information regarding their treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is not in a position to comment on issues of commercial confidentiality in relation to a private company.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories receive full information regarding their treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: Such information is not available to the Scottish Executive. Inveresk is a private company.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories give their informed consent for the trials and whether issues of commercial confidentiality prevent disclosure of information to such volunteers and affect their ability to give informed consent.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether issues of commercial confidentiality prevent ethical oversight and regulation of healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories.

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what regulation there is of healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories.

Malcolm Chisholm: Such trials are regulated under UK health and safety law.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what ethical oversight there is of healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories.

Malcolm Chisholm: We understand that studies involving healthy volunteers participating in clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories are ethically appraised by the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is publicly available about the ethical oversight of healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is publicly available about the regulation of healthy volunteers participating in human clinical trials of non-pharmaceutical substances at Inveresk research laboratories.

Malcolm Chisholm: Inveresk research laboratories is a private company. Any information should be sought from them.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive who the members are of the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a register of interests of the members of the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research is available and, if not, whether it will be made available.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research was required to meet in order to receive recognition from the United Kingdom Ethics Committee Authority and what information it has on whether these criteria were applied to all ethics committees so recognised.

Malcolm Chisholm: Before the implementation of the Clinical Trials Directive, studies in healthy volunteers did not require regulatory approval. The Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee was awarded type (i) recognition by UKECA. This recognition covers the committee to review Phase 1 trials in healthy volunteers.

  As with most committees recognised to review Phase 1 trials, this is not an NHS committee and therefore is not subject to NHS governance arrangements.

  For an interim period, non NHS committees reviewing trials in healthy volunteers are exempt from the detailed requirements laid down in the regulations. They have until 1 May 2005 to comply with these requirements.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to oversee and control the activities of independent private sector ethics committees, including the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research.

Malcolm Chisholm: Although currently recognised on an interim basis, independent ethics committees, including the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee will require to meet Schedule 2 of The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (S. I. 2004, No. 1031), by 1 May 2005. Failure to do so would make further recognition unlikely.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions there are to ensure that the activities of independent private sector ethics committees, including the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research, are made public.

Malcolm Chisholm: From 1 May 2005, when committees reviewing trials in healthy volunteers are required to comply with the conditions in The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (S. I. 2004, No. 1031), the committees will be required to produce a report on the committee’s activities in relation to clinical trials of medicines, by financial year.

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions there are to ensure that the activities of independent private sector ethics committees, including the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research, are regulated.

Malcolm Chisholm: From 1 May 2005, all committees awarded type (i) recognition to review clinical trials in healthy volunteers will be required to comply with the conditions set out in The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (S. I. 2004 No. 1031).

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any conflict of interest in respect of consideration of applications to carry out human clinical trials on healthy volunteers at Inveresk research laboratories by the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research.

Malcolm Chisholm: Schedule 2 of the Regulations requires ethics committees to make standing orders and to adopt standard operating procedures, subject to approval by the United Kingdom Ethics Committee Authority. Standard operating procedures would normally include issues such as conduct of meetings, membership requirements including declaration of interest and conflict of interest.

  I refer to my replies to S2W-9594 and S2W-9595 given on 29 July in which I stated that the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee have until 1 May 2005 to comply with Schedule 2 of The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical trials) Regulations 2004 (S. I. 2004, No. 1031).

Medical Research

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration of applications to carry out human clinical trials on healthy volunteers at Inveresk research laboratories should be considered by an ethical committee other than the Edinburgh Independent Ethics Committee for Medical Research.

Malcolm Chisholm: Any committee recognised to cover the same type (type (i) recognition) and geographical area could be asked to consider applications for ethical review from Inveresk research laboratories.

Modern Apprenticeships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeship schemes have been implemented through the modern apprenticeships implementation group since May 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: 52 out of the 83 Modern Apprenticeship (MA) frameworks have been approved by the Modern Apprenticeship Implementation Group since 1999.

  There are currently over 31,000 MAs in training, compared with 11,500 in 1999.

Museums

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on marketing costs for the Museum of Flight Airshow in 2003.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is an operational matter for the National Museums of Scotland. However, I have contacted the Director. His response is as follows:-

  The sum of £45,000 was spent on marketing the Museum of Flight in 2003-04. Marketing expenditure was planned to promote the museum year round, with the 2003 Airshow as the major event for the year. Expenditure included brochures, tickets, signage and radio and press advertising.

Museums

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total income was from the Museum of Flight Airshow in 2003.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is an operational matter for the National Museums of Scotland. However, I have contacted the Director. His response is as follows:-

  The total income from the 2003 Museum of Flight Airshow was £82,000.

Museums

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected budget is for the marketing of, and income from, this year’s Museum of Flight Airshow.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is an operational matter for the National Museums of Scotland. However, I have contacted the Director. His response is as follows:-

  The 2004-05 marketing budget for the Museum of Flight is £80,000. The budget was increased from 2003-04 levels to support National Museums of Scotland’s strategy to promote the Museum of Flight and its unrivalled aviation collections to a wider audience, raising the profile of both the Museum of Flight as a year round family day out (with Concorde G-BOAA as a central part of the visitor experience) and the Airshow as an event. The strategy aims to increase visits to the Museum of Flight from about 60,000 each year to 120,000 each year, over the next three years. In the three month period April to June 2004, visits to the museum increased by 62% (13,751 to 22,321).

  The projected income from the 2004 Museum of Flight Airshow is £111,000.

National Health Service

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what alternative provision it will make for patients who benefit from the Centre for Integrative Care at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital in the event of its closure and for whom the NHS currently offers no other effective palliation or treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is primarily a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow. I would expect details of alternative service provision to be included in any proposals that are presented to me.

National Health Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of capital investment there has been in Dumbarton Joint Hospital in the last 10 years and for what purpose such capital was invested.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of capital investment there has been in Helensburgh Victoria Infirmary in the last 10 years and for what purpose such capital was invested.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally. Capital funds are now allocated to NHS boards using the Arbuthnott formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. This means that NHS Boards can determine, based on their local knowledge or the local needs of the local area how this money should be spent.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of cardiothoractic surgical beds has been in (a) the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and (b) all other hospitals where cardiothoracic surgery is carried out in each year since 2002.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on a range of cost information, including the costs of cardiothoracic surgical beds in NHSScotland hospitals, is published by the Information and Statistics Division of the NHS National Services Scotland in the publication Scottish Health Service Costs . This can be accessed on the World Wide Web at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=1370&p_applic=CCC&p_serv

  Information about costs for the Golden Jubilee National Hospital will be included for the first time in the 2003-04 version of the publication, due to be published in November 2004.

  Information on the average running cost of a cardiothoracic bed in each NHS hospital providing this service in 2001-02 and 2002-03 is given in the following table.

  

Hospital
2001-02 Cost Per Bed
2002-03 Cost Per Bed


Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
£ 178,649
£199,912


Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
£202,997
£231,946


Glasgow Royal Infirmary
£195,752
£255,983


Hairmyres Hospital
£146,034
£139,746


Yorkhill
£213,902
£219,624


Western/Gartnavel
£185,085
£244,513


Scotland
£187,407
£223,347

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive which company now owns Raigmore Hospital’s magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

Malcolm Chisholm: The contract in place for this transaction is a matter for NHS Highland and any questions concerning the contract should be directed to them.

National Health Service

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-6514 by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 February 2003, whether Eurocare Environmental Services Ltd still holds contracts for the disposal of clinical waste from the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: Eurocare Environmental Services Ltd was sold to STI Group in January 2004. The NHS Scottish Consortium is continuing the existing contract for the disposal of clinical waste on the same terms and conditions.

National Health Service

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is being given to NHS Orkney to support GP out-of-hours services, the new consultant contract, European Working Time Directive compliance and the implementation of Agenda for Change.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information relating to funding for specific initiatives is not available centrally. NHS boards receive general allocations and it is for them to apportion these accordingly.

  In 2004-05, NHS Orkney received a general allocation of £28.86 million from which funding for GP out-of-hours services, the new consultant contract, European Working Time Directive compliance and the implementation of Agenda for Change will be derived.

Renewable Energy

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects biofuels to be available on general sale across Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: Biodiesel is already available at over 20 filling stations in various locations across Scotland. Details of the outlets are available at:

  http://www.transportenergy.org.uk/cleanervehicles/cleanerfuels/biofuels/.

  The number of outlets selling biodiesel in Scotland is likely to increase as a result of the building of Scotland’s first large-scale biodiesel production plant near Motherwell.

Residential Care

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is has any concerns regarding an embargo by the City of Edinburgh Council on change of use applications for care homes to residential use and what action it proposes to take on the matter.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The City of Edinburgh Council advise that they have no embargo on determining planning applications for changes of use from care homes to residential use. We therefore propose to take no action.

Residential Care

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have placed embargoes on change of use applications for care homes.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We are not aware of any local authorities placing embargos on the determination of planning applications for such changes of use.

Scottish Executive Funding

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-2467 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 20 May 2004, whether the £700,000 provided to national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations included the £512,000 for the Equality Network announced in March 2004 and whether the Executive will provide a breakdown of which organisations the £700,000 has been, or will be, allocated to and over what financial years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I apologise if my earlier reply on this matter was not clear. Let me clarify. The Scottish Executive has provided £695,192 to support and increase the engagement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people in the life of Scotland. This figure includes the grant of £512,000 for the Equality Network which was announced in March 2004. The breakdown of funding to organisations is as follows:

  

Organisation
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
Total


Equality Network
46,097
60,014
165,852
169,005
177,724
618,692


LGBT Youth
12,000
22,000
26,000
-
-
60,000


Beyond Barriers
5,000
11,500
-
-
-
16,500

Wildlife

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received about the legality of shooting deer from helicopters.

Ross Finnie: Section 20 (1) (a) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 provides that any person who discharges any firearm or discharges or projects any missile from any moving vehicle at any deer shall be guilty of an offence. In addition to specific exceptions, Section 20 is subject to section 14 of the Act which provides exemption for Deer Commission for Scotland staff (and those with DCS authorisation) in relation to action in respect of a control agreement, control scheme or section 10 action. DCS has never made use of that exemption.